Snow

I’ve lived in Texas since 1974. Before that I lived in lesser states but always in the South.

I’ve SEEN snow. Once a year we get a light dusting, usually more ice than snow. Once a decade we might get a few inches but it’s usually gone the next day.

I’ve also visited snow for recreation or when I had to be in a Northern city for work.

But I’ve never lived in it.

I’ve never owned a snow shovel, let alone shoveled a walk.

I’ve also never built a snow fort. Best I ever did was a muddy snowman.

I once rented a car in Minneapolis or Buffalo, one of those snowy places, and when I opened the trunk to put my suitcase in I saw a brushy thing on a stick. Thinking the cleaning crew had left an implement behind, I waved down an attendant and pointed out the brushy stick.

He looked at me oddly and explained the concept of a snow brush.

I had no idea.

I have Internet friends that are covered in record snows now and I’m amazed at the infrastructure required to deal with it. Shovels, blowers, de-icers, plows, salt, heaters and boots.

It’s completely foreign.

I used to think it might be nice to live somewhere with a real winter but now that I know what living in snow is like I’m glad I don’t.